I'm going to apologize for this thread in advance. The basic idea here was to showcase a different city neighborhood each month, with an emphasis on the parts of town the tourists don't usually get to when they're here. Downtown, where every tourist goes however, was still the logical place to start but I meant to head out and grab the angles of downtown that usually don't make it up here whenever someone posts an Asheville thread.
That didn't quite work out as well as I'd wanted, unfortunately, because the friend I brought along only had three hours to spare. We spent the time running -- literally -- around downtown trying to get every picture we could, and what we ended up with was tired and sunblasted look at downtown Asheville. Somehow, it manages to be both sunny and dreary all at the same time.
I guess it can't be helped... I'm running out of January here and unfortunately, one of my roommates' snarky suggestions (let's just run by the grocery store and pick up a pound, then) won't work. I'd been waiting for it to snow, and it just refused to do so until the other day when we got a couple inches of powder that blew away the next day.
And so, without further ado, here's a half-assed look at a lot of stuff you've already seen before, with the added bonus of the ugly, winter-weary side of downtown Asheville.
This is January's Asheville neighborhood of the month:
Downtown
In Asheville, today...
Yes. They
are in fact being fattened for slaughter, and are henceforth to be referred to as Hideous Beasts A-D. Keep looking if you don't believe me.
This building tends to... loom. Keep looking if you don't believe me about that either. You really are a skeptical cuss, aren't you?
My friend and I got into an amusing argument about feeling like dirty tourists going around with our cameras in plain sight like we were. This caused a hostess at the nearby cafe to start giggling. She didn't have much else to do. It was about 45 degrees out, so nobody was dining out of doors today.
Speaking of outdoor noshing, this alley is used for that purpose in warm weather.
Contrast is what downtown architecture is all about. Romanesque, meet Brutalist.
See, I
told you they were being fattened up for a sinister purpose. This hawk, to be referred to as Hideous Beast E is rumored to live in one of the B's on the BB&T Building.
It's time for a jaunt down Church Street.
And back up the street...
A quick look inside an abandoned building across the street from that grey stone church.
Looming...
We occasionally try to temper our Brutalist Wachovia buildings with public art.
Brutalist, meet Art Deco.
Here's a picture you've seen a million times before.
Here's another picture you've seen a million times before, featuring Hideous Beasts F and G.
Late last week and earlier this week Asheville was basking in single-digit temperatures, with windchills of 20-something below. Today was positively blistering at 50 degrees, but it was windy and so not many people were out -- and nobody wanted de-icing salt blown into their veggie granola organic whatever, and so they all wisely stayed inside to eat.
Hideous Beast H
Why would anyone take a picture of this, I ask you? Now you see the depths of my desperation to get something, anything, on film while my friend insisted on browsing at a gift shop that was going out of business.
Arte Nouveau? Arte Moderne? You make the call.
Arte Moderne? Arte Nouveau? You make the call.
Arte... Okay, that joke's been used up, I think. I'll stop it now.
Va va voom? Ooh la la? You make the call.
Okay, so I lied.
This picture looks familiar because you have in fact seen it before. The problem with being small and exquisite and urban is that you're still small. People do tend to snag the same shots all the time.
I'm vaguely reminded of how much I like M.C. Escher.
I would make some kind of smartass comment here, but really... it speaks for itself, doesn't it?
Hideous Beast I
Hideous Beast I with Hideous Beast J in the foreground.
Hideous Beast K. Rawr.
Visible on the right is Hideous Beast L. Look closely. The entire reason this sculpture is up on a pedestal is because when it was originally installed on the sidewalk, people kept tripping over the little rotter.
This is the booty-end of the old JC Penney building, in case you were wondering, which you weren't, but I know these things so just smile and nod politely and pretend like you were paying attention. That strokes my ego and makes me feel like a valued member of society. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Ever notice how streets in movies and on TV shows always terminate at a T-intersection with more buildings at the end to block the view?
You weren't expecting that one, were you? Yeah... we hustled up eight floors of stairs to get to the roof of the Civic Center parking deck. Good stuff up there, man. Good stuff...
The 500-plus room Grove Park Inn is there on the mountainside off to the left.
See that dome?
Yeah. That one. That's First Baptist Church.
There was still a little snow in the shady spots.
Please note that this fence will not stop a slasher movie villain.
I did this on purpose. Can you tell? I mean, is it obvious?
Left of center, actually.
Still looming.
Just add water.
Loomage.
Architecture? Art? You make the call.
So I lied again. Sue me.
Hideous Beast M
A clown that someone had glued to the windowsill. Hideous Beast N by default.
Here are some little Buddhas with the shadow of my head. If you have ever seen that sentence in print anywhere else before, I will pay you a dollar.
You've seen this picture before too. It's a popular door.
Downtown is waiting for spring.
Prev
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I must visit again.
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